"aren't you at the beach, son?"
wonwoo rubbed his eyes as he lifted his head from the table, looking at his surroundings with a bewildered expression. on the opposite side of the table a middle aged man was seated, clearly shocked when he saw the boy in front of him wasn't exactly his own son.
"oh dear, you're not seokmin. i must have mistaken you for him because of the curly hair." a friendly smile appeared on the man's face as he brushed a hand through his grayish black hair "come to think of it, back at that time he had also dyed his hair orange. it was supposed to be a shade of brown, but it ended up looking as bright as a tangerine."
the room suddenly filled with the warm laughter of the elder man, echoing against the wooden walls of the large living room. even wonwoo, who had just woken up from a three hour lasting power nap, couldn't suppress a chuckle that left his throat.
"seokmin as a curly tangerine, you wouldn't say that when you first meet him." wonwoo exclaimed, watching how the expression of seokmin's father changed to something mesmerizing.
"it's been two years since. he came home with a bottle of hair dye, to impress the kids at school. at that time it was some upcoming trend to dye your hair in every shade of the rainbow, it still is if i'm not mistaken." a heavy sigh escaped the man's lips as he sunk a little further down his chair, his shaggy dark eyebrows furrowing in a frown "seokmin has always been an outcast.. which i absolutely don't get seeing his optimistic personality.. i can remember how sad he was when his hair didn't turn out like one of the popular guys at his school around that time."
"seokmin? an outcast?" wonwoo asked confusedly as to how the extremely politely and bright guy could possibly be a misfit. he absolutely didn't seem like the type to have no friends.
"i don't understand it too. short after his hair incident the bullying got so much worse i decided to move away from the bustling city and we settled here. this place was particularly cheap and we fixed a lot of things around the house. but since it was way too big for the two of us we made it into a cozy little lodge. ever since we opened up we've had a pretty big amount of customers. the three boys that are staying here are the first ones of his own age."
the adult propped his elbows up on the table and let out a sigh, scratching his chin where stubbles were slightly sticking out, meaning he hadn't shaved for the past few days. "you have no idea how nervous he was when he heard he had to interact with teens again. he has been following online classes for the past two years to keep up with his study. i couldn't bare to see him be an outcast for the.. i don't even know, i lost count of the amount of school's he's been to."
wonwoo visibly found it hard to comprehend that a boy like seokmin could possibly be bullied for his entire school time. how on earth had he been so strong that he still wore a smile so broad everyday.
"ah, i shouldn't even be telling you all this." seokmin's father waved the current subject away with a motion of his hands as he averted his full attention to wonwoo again "seokmin told me you were staying here with mingyu, he has told me a lot of good things about you!"
"he did?" wonwoo asked in disbelieve, finding it hard to believe that someone actually enjoyed his prescense that much.
"of course he did! you're a very well mannered young man if i'm allowed to say so. i would actually consider sending him back to high school again if he were placed with you and the other three boys. speaking of them," he paused for a brief second, cocking a brow "aren't you supposed to be at the beach with them right now?"
wonwoo's smile dropped on an instant as he lowered his shoulders, averting his gaze to the smooth oaken surface of the table. "something happened this morning at the beach so i preferred to stay here for the afternoon."
wonwoo didn't know why he spoke his thoughts out loud. he wasn't one to speak honest about his worries, especially not with strangers. or in this situation, someone he'd only spoken to once before.
however, the way the middle aged man had treated him over the past five minutes gave wonwoo such an unfamiliar but fatherly feeling. something he barely ever received from his own parents. and perhaps something he wished to hold onto for at least a little longer.
"tell me what happened young man, did it have something to do with the group?" he worriedly asked, giving wonwoo a reassuring smile once the boys looked up again.
"well they weren't exactly involved, except of me and mingyu. mingyu.. he kind of.." wonwoo found it hard to say, not being sure if this man supported his sexuality. but seeing his accepting behaviour gave wonwoo a feeling of trust anyhow, making him continue "..he hugged me. and a small group of homophobic teens started throwing insults at us. which resulted in mingyu throwing a punch at one of them and hansol dragging him away."
"and what did you do?" the man asked, being totally invested in whatever wonwoo had to tell.
"i.. walked away. i know i might sound like a total coward, but i rather avoid situations like that." wonwoo admitted, being absolutely ashamed of himself in front of a grown up man.
but seokmin's father on the other hand seemed fond of his decision. "let me tell you son, that's a very wise decision of yours to make. walking away doesn't immediately make you a coward. i'm glad you didn't involve yourself further into it, things like that solve eventually. they were just childish and they will see that too eventually."
wonwoo was beyond thankful for the elder man. however there was still one thing on his mind. "i think it's also mingyu's sudden change that bothers me.." he admitted, staring down at the table yet again "we've only met a couple of days ago, but i've seen him walking through the school's hallways before. i heard he acts like a total douchebag to his fellow students."
"and since you haven't seen anything else of him than the happy mingyu you're scared that he will change back to the old mingyu again, am i right?" wonwoo wondered how his vision on things was so frightening accurate and answered with a long hesitated nod.
"i wonder what even made him change his character so much. even my friends back at home have no clue."
"oh wonwoo." the grayish haired man chuckled and gave him a friendly smile "i think it should be obvious at this point that you're the one who made him change into a better person."
"but i still don't understand why me?"
"you shouldn't be so insecure about yourself my dear boy, mingyu is really fond of you. i've seen the way he looks at you, and he's not exactly the best at hiding his feelings. and i've seen the way you look at him as well wonwoo, don't deny it."
wonwoo's cheeks flushed red when he realized how obvious his feelings shone through. "well.. you're right.." he let out a sigh, realizing that the man had guessed his feelings perfectly right.
"you know what. you should allow yourself to open up more to him. mingyu isn't crazy for you for no reason."
and wonwoo finally understood, that this man might actually be right.
